Facial recognition technology results in six arrests, Met says
“As part of our commitment to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour in our communities,” the Metropolitan Police said in a press release, “we are continuing to deploy Live Facial Recognition technology.
On Wednesday, 15th May, officers made six arrests with the assistance of the technology at deployments in Tower Hamlets and in the vicinity of the O2 Arena in Greenwich. This included two people who breached the terms of their sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).
After the facial recognition alerts were made officers found one of them had items in their possession, which as part of their court imposed conditions they must inform police they have. They had not met the terms of that order.
The other had not complied with conditions relating to an electronic device. Other arrests include a man wanted for grievous bodily harm, another for assault of a police officer and assault. Of the six arrests, three were from the Tower Hamlets deployment and three from the Greenwich deployment.
An alert is made when the technology suggests a person walking through a zone of recognition is similar to person on a bespoke watchlist. If an alert is made this does not automatically mean an arrest, it could mean officers will ensure that a person is complying with their conditions as set out by a court.
More information about this technology, including details of previous deployments can be found here.
